Potpourri: Ladynoir Christmas in July
by Golden Lunar Eclipse
Summary: With the holidays approaching, Hawkmoth is more determined than ever to retrieve the Miraculouses, before his butterfly instincts force him to migrate for the winter. Cat Noir, meanwhile, has a Christmassy new plan for wooing his Lady. Ladynoir July 2019.


GLE – Haha, I must be crazy, I've only got like half a plan in place (where I'm the type to have a very thorough outline before writing, and then to try to write most of it before posting), but seeing as this whole thing is kind of a random, last-minute decision and a mish-mash of ideas from the start, it's probably quite fitting that this is how I'm doing this (…and because I probably would end up not posting it otherwise, at least not for several years due to wanting to get it perfect, haha!). So yeah, it's a "potpourri" of ideas, since I'm combining random ideas I've had that don't fit into the other stories I'm working on (some of these ideas go back almost a year, including a couple of scenes I've written). And we've got the Ladynoir July prompts, the twelve days of Christmas, and several akumatizations to get through! So, I really hope that when it's all said and done, this thing comes out mostly coherent!

And yes, I am attempting to write one coherent story. To do that, however, I will be taking the prompts out of order, and putting them into an order that most suits the story I'm trying to tell. Heh, and since I haven't finished the outline, I still have no idea how I'm integrating some of the prompts yet, but I'll figure it out! I most likely will not be posting daily (I'm not that fast of a writer), but I'll do my best to finish this story before the end of the year (I mean, preferably before the end of summer, but I'm being realistically optimistic here!). Also, don't expect the chapter lengths to be consistent. I hope you enjoy this randomness!

As usual, I'm going with the official English names because I am fluent in French and how the words sound to my readers matters to me (for the record, it's pronounced "Shah", the "t" is silent, just as much as it is silent in Plagg's beloved "camembert" cheese).

-(x)-

**Potpourri: Ladynoir Christmas in July**

**Chapter 1: Animal Tendencies (prompt 15)**

As the magical ladybugs rushed around the city, repairing the damage the akuma had caused, Cat Noir stood next to a lamppost with a smile on his face. His Lady was helping the victim to stand in that incredible way she always does and he couldn't help but admire her for it every time. It was only when she turned to face him that he realized he'd been idly running his claws against the lamppost, and that some of the paint had start to chip under his nails. He hastily snatched his hand back and mentally berated himself for scratching up yet _another_ vertical surface. He really had to stop this bizarre habit he'd formed recently.

"Pound it?" said Ladybug, offering him her fist.

He bumped it with his own, grinning. "Pound it!"

Ladybug's earrings gave a chirp. "Sounds like it's time for me to go. See you around, Kitty! Bug out!"

And with that, she was off.

A beep from his own Miraculous warned him that he should leave soon too, and he did just that.

Meanwhile, in a certain secret lair, Hawkmoth detransformed to become Gabriel Agreste once more. He and Nooroo left the room together, returning to the office.

Gabriel shivered and found his eyes drifting towards the windows. The failure this time around was just another one of the many that had come before. But right now, there was a more pressing matter he had to address.

"Nooroo, is there… can you explain to me… why am I feeling like this?" he asked, unsure, for once, of how exactly to vocalize his concerns.

To his surprise, Nooroo not only understood his question, he also had an answer. "You've been using my Miraculous for over a year now, Master. Because of your bond with and usage of my magic, you're starting to develop some of the butterfly's characteristics. Sometimes this happens quickly, sometimes it takes a long time, but it looks like that's what's happening to you right now."

Gabriel blinked at him in surprise, then a deep frown marred his features. "A butterfly's characteristics? So is that… is that why I want to," he paused, looking for a better word to describe taking a sudden vacation to the warmest place on Earth, "…'migrate'?"

The kwami nodded.

Gabriel's posture shifted into that of a person who was very much put out. Migrating in the middle of such a critical time? Unfathomable! And yet, he couldn't help but feel so drawn to the idea… like a moth to a flame!

The man sat down at his desk and sighed. His eyes landed on a calendar. With Christmas just around the corner, no one would bat an eye if he were to take a vacation. An idea began to form in his mind and he called Nathalie into the room with him.

"According to Nooroo, I've started to develop… butterfly tendencies," he said, that last part dripping in distaste. "As such, I find it necessary to travel to someplace warm during this cold holiday season. But if I must do this, I am going to step up my game as Hawkmoth before I go. With careful planning, we will surely bring Emilie back by Christmas so that we can all enjoy a vacation away from here."

"Of course, sir," agreed Nathalie.

"Book something for us somewhere nice. For now, you can book it for myself, Adrien, and you, but when we get Emilie back, change your booking to have Emilie take your place."

"Consider it done."

Gabriel nodded, his gaze landing on the windows again. Now he had to figure out another approach to retrieving the Miraculouses. What could he do differently that would guarantee him success this time around?

* * *

-(x)-

GLE – And here we go!

Why Ladynoir July? Well, my favourite ship is MabugAdoir (aka the two main characters with each other, regardless of which persona they are wearing at the time). But if I had to choose one of the corners, my favourite would be Ladynoir above all the others. First of all, I like the equality of it (so it's no surprise that Adrinette is my second favourite of the four corners – with Ladynoir they are both in superhero form, with Adrinette they are both in civilian form… but Ladynoir edges out Adrinette because of the potential for action scenes and magic, whereas Adrinette fics will often focus on school life and nothing else, and what's the point of that when you've got a whole world built around magical fights with temporary villains that you could be having fun with?). Just as importantly, I think it's a very necessary corner, because we know that Adrien/Cat Noir will love Marinette – "the girl behind the mask" – just as much as he does Ladybug (he has stated as much in canon), but Marinette/Ladybug hasn't allowed herself to even entertain the idea of loving the "boy with the mask" that is a very important side of Adrien. So, I like it when I see her getting the opportunity to do so, and to actually open herself up to her partner's charms.

And why not Marichat? For several reasons, that is my _least_ favourite corner of the love square. As I stated previously, I'm not a fan of the imbalance (one of them as superhero, one of them as civilian). It also doesn't make any sense to me; if one of them were to start to fall for the other, they'd be more likely to take a relationship in a different form (so if Adrien/Cat Noir were to start falling for Marinette, you'd be more likely to end up with Adrinette than with Marichat, and if Marinette/Ladybug were to start falling for Cat Noir, you'd be more likely to end up with Ladynoir than with Marichat especially since _she's_ the one concerned with secret identities and safety, she would be very unlikely to let Cat Noir visit her civilian self on a regular basis because of the attention from Hawkmoth that "Marinette" could end up drawing to herself by being with a superhero – a different type of attention than "Ladybug" would get in the same position since "Ladybug" doesn't have a known address and Hawkmoth already thinks she and Cat Noir are together anyways). That, and most of the stories tend to forget their canon personalities and insert some fandom headcanons that don't gel with my image of the two characters (and that has made me often avoid Marichat stories). Heh, as for Ladrien, it's okay in my opinion because it is the most canon of the four corners, but for the imbalance reasons (her as superhero, him as civilian) and her concerns for safety (if she doesn't want to draw Hawkmoth's attention to "Marinette", she wouldn't want to draw it to her beloved Adrien either), it's not my favourite side of the square.

Haha, sorry for the random love square rant. I haven't really gotten a chance to voice this opinion much, so here it is!

Anyways…

Happy Canada Day! (…ah well, by the time I'm posting this, more like "belated" Canada Day!)


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